The tournament will become a regular fixture for volleyball in Greece as well as for the local sports family from the island of Syros.

Syros,
Greece, October 1, 2013 - The first edition of the South Aegean International
Tournament held this past week in Syros came to a close with TV Ingersoll Bühl
of Germany winning the trophy as hosts Foinikas Syros settled for second place.

Photos and videos of the tournament were
circulated in Germany, Bulgaria and Egypt, to help promote this beautiful
corner of the Aegean Sea. To express their gratitude for the warm hospitality
they enjoyed this past weekend, the officials of TV Ingersoll invited Foinikas
Syros and its chairman George Vlachogiannis to Germany for some friendly
matches that will take place this December in Baden-Baden.

A similar proposal was put forward by CVC Gabrovo, the team from Bulgaria that
also starred in the first edition of the tournament held at the D. Vikelas
sports hall with many inhabitants of Syros in attendance. Once the situation in
Egypt improves, Foinikas will be invited to travel to Alexandria to visit the
club of Smouha, the fourth team that took part in the tournament.

Germany’s TV Ingersoll Bühl – a team that is set to debut this year in the
European Cup – claimed all of their matches in the tournament defeating hosts
Foinikas Syros 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 15-13) on the second day of the
competition before routing Smouha of Egypt in the last round of action.

“Against all odds we are very happy for we have been able to stage the
inaugural edition of this tournament in the Aegean area,” said the Chairman of
the Department of Culture and Sports of the South Aegean region, Dimitris
Gryparis after awarding the winning team from Germany.

“Our intention is to turn this tournament into an annual event that will be
touring across the Aegean islands. Though I come from water polo I am very
close to volleyball as well and to any sports activity taking place in this
neighbourhood. This is only the start of a project whereby we want to promote
culture and sport on our beautiful islands. The most important thing is that
the stadium was crowded for the three days of the tournament and that the
winners from Germany got a loud applause during the awards ceremony, something
that shows the true passion of all people from Syros for volleyball and sport
in general.”